Shadows of a Memory
by SavvyEnigma
Summary: Allycat Scooter has no idea who she is or where she came from.  Her only companions are cats and a strange voice in her head.  All she remembers are faint whispers that seem to be memories.  But are they her memories? Story about the Allspark...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I merely borrow the characters to weave my own tales.

She called herself Alleycat Scooter because that was the only name she knew of. Sometimes she thought she remembered hearing a woman call "Ali! Ali, don't forget to feed the cat before you go out!" and someone else saying, "C'mon, Scooter, let's get you fed."

Alleycat thought she remembered a lot of things. Jumbled images and voices, some of giant robots, others of humans. She thought she saw blood and some strange glowing liquid—Energon—being spilled, and the bodies of both the humans and the giant robots. Her dreams were filled with things she thought she remembered, names, places, dates, voices, faces . . . She saw horrible things in her dreams, but none made her more afraid then the maybe-memory of sharp needles, faceless people, and sharp metal tools and the faint echoes of pain and terror that followed her into the waking world.

She didn't know who she was. She lived on the streets, hardly ever staying in one place for more than two days. She knew that she had really dark brown skin, black hair, and dark blue eyes, but she didn't know how old she was, where she came from, or her real name—if she even had a name.

Alleycat sighed and paused in her scrounge for something to eat. Finding some decent food and hastily consuming it, she wandered through the alleys, searching for a place to sleep for the night. Her only company was the alley cats, and the voice that sometimes talked in her head.

She briefly wondered where she came from, who she was, but those thoughts were swiftly overtaken by the maybe-memories. Shivering, she slipped behind a dumpster and curled up into a ball.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I merely borrow the characters to write my own tales.

Alleycat heard sobbing and peered out from behind the dumpster to see a young woman clutching her swollen belly and sobbing. She was in pain, Alleycat could tell that just by looking at her. "_She's having a sparkling._"

Oh. The voice in her head was back. "_What does Scooter-cat do?_"

"_Take care of her. You can deliver the sparkling, but it needs to be in a clean environment._"

Alleycat scooted over to her. "Please," The woman begged. "Help."

"Scooter-cat help." She promised. "Scooter-cat take you safe."

* * *

Alleycat stared down at the little bundle in her arms. She'd cleaned it off as best as she could and wrapped it in the woman's jacket. _/The newborn wrinkled his nose and tightened his fist, wriggling closer to her. "Well?" The dark haired man asked. "Was it worth the pain?"_

_"You know what? I don't think I'll banish you to the garage."_

_The man chuckled. "Good to know. What do we name him?"_

_"Samuel James Witwicky."_

_"Sounds perfect."/_

_/They were in a large building filled with plants. She was holding the sparkling, wrapped in a fuzzy blue blanket. "What about a rose? That white one over there looks perfect."_

_"American Salute?" The baby blinked sleepily and yawned, raising one fist above his head. "Awww! It's perfect, Ron!"_

_"Are you talking about the rose or the baby?"/_

Shaking her head, Alleycat handed the new mother the baby. "Thank you." She whispered, tears in her eyes. "Hello, little one. I'm afraid I don't have a name for you." She looked up at Alleycat. "Do . . . do you have a suggestion?"

She looked at the tiny human. "Dustin." She had no idea, but he looked like a "Dustin" to her.

"Dustin Parker," She said slowly. "It suits him."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I merely borrow the characters to weave my own tales and do not make any profit from this.

* * *

_Three Days Later:_

Carol Parker took a deep breath as she dialed. Behind her in the alley, the homeless girl, Scooter-cat, stood holding her son, waiting for her to finish with the pay-phone. _"Hello?"_

She smiled as she recognized her sister's voice. "You're an aunt now, Sarah."

Sarah squealed. _"Really? Where are you? When can I come and see . . . is it a neice or a nephew?"_

"Nephew, and, um, can you come pick me up? I'm in Mission City, on sixty third and first, in the alley behind the old bank. I'll explain later, I'm using a pay-phone and I don't have a lot of time left."

_"I'll send Will to pick you up, I'm afraid I can't make it right now, I'm with Anna at the doctors."_

"Okay, that's fine. Can't wait to see you. Bye, sis." She hung up and turned towards Scooter-cat. "Thanks for everything, Scooter-cat." She said as she cradled Dustin in her arms. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? I'm sure Sarah and Will wouldn't mind."

"Scooter-cat fine, not time for Scooter-cat to leave. But you leave. Scooter-cat keep safe, Soldier and Sister keep safe. Carol Parker have nothing to fear from Soldier and Soldier Truck. Scooter-cat say goodbye now. Fare you well, Dustin Parker, Carol Parker." Without another word, Scooter-cat slipped back into the shadows.

"Bye." Carol said softly.

* * *

Alleycat watched from behind the dumpster as the soldier came and picked Carol and her baby up, and smiled, knowing they were going to be fine.

_/"Sarah, meet Ironhide. Ironhide, meet Sarah."/_

_"What is that?"_

_"That? That's Annabelle." Will said prouldy._

_"She is your sparkling?"_

_"Sparkling?"_

_"A baby, in human terms."_

_"Oh, yeah. Annabelle is our sparkling."_

_"She's so small. Very inefficient." Ironhide remarked. "She seems to have no control over her motor functions."_

_"She's just a baby, Ironhide. She'll grow up soon enough."/_

_"Hidey! Up!"_

_"Go on, Ironhide, it's okay. You can pick her up."_

_"But what if I break her?"_

_Will laughed at his wide opticed look of concern. "You'll be fine, 'Hide. Just be careful, so Sarah doesn't decide to key your paint."/_

Yes, Carol and Dustin were going to be just fine. Ironhide wouldn't let anything happen to them.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I merely borrow the characters to weave my own tales and do not make any profit from this. Yes, I know, this chapter sucks. Do you know that writers block also sucks? You would not believe the difficulty I had with this chapter.

* * *

_Three months later:_

Pain. That was the extent of her of her entire world. That was all she could feel, all she could think of, all that she could understand. Somehow, through the mind numbing haze, she crawled to a broken, two-way radio that was in the alleyway she'd taken refuge in. She didn't know why she needed to reach the radio, but it felt right.

As her skin contacted the broken machine, blue sparks shot from her fingers, and an instant later the shattered metal began repairing itself. When the blue glow died, the radio transformed. It was a robot, like the ones from her not-memories.

"Call . . . William . . . Lennox . . . Scooter-cat need . . . for call Soldier . . . help." She managed to gasp out. Why was she in so much pain? What happened?

The robot made an electronic noise, grabbing her face with spindly fingers as it clicked in a reassuring manner. Alleycat closed her eyes, unable to do anything else. Eventually, even the pain began fading as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

The last thing she was aware of were strong arms lifting her up and indistinguishable, concerned voices.

* * *

Will was sitting at the table with Carol, Dustin, Sarah, and Annabelle, enjoying a homecooked meal-his first in nearly two months-when the radio suddenly blasted out static and then a frantic, high pitched electronic pattern that nearly shattered their eardrums and made the little ones start crying.

Then, a voice became recognizable in the noise coming from the radio. _"Call . . . William . . . Lennox . . . Scooter-cat . . . need . . . for call Soldier . . . help."_

As the message repeated, Carol stopped her frantic attempts to hush the children and stared at the radio. "Scooter-cat? But that's . . . that's the name of the homeless girl who helped me!"

_"Help . . . help . . . Scooter-cat . . . need . . . help."_ The radio suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks, causing the women to scream in alarm and Sarah to grab a wet dishrag to beat the small fire that had started out.

Will was already out the door, racing over to the black Topkick sitting on the driveway. "Ironhide, can you track that-?"

"There are coordinates embedded in the radio signal." Ironhide said tersely. "I've already tracked it."

"Do you think it's a Decepticon?" Will asked, scrambling into the seat. He doubted it himself, but he wanted to hear Ironhide's opinion.

". . . No. I've never heard anything like it before-the frequency was entirely new, almost a mix of Cybertronian and your human frequencies."

"Well, we won't know for sure until we get there."

Ironhide took off down the drive, racing toward Mission City.

* * *

Will had been prepared for a lot of things. He wasn't prepared to find a ragged looking black girl with a large metal pipe in her stomach, lying in a pool of blood in an alleyway, with a small black robot sitting beside her, clicking in distress.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I merely borrow the characters to weave my own tales and do not make any profit from this. Sorry for the long wait and the short chapter.

* * *

Alleycat blinked, staring up at a ceiling she recognized from her maybe-memories. She was at the robots-Autobot's-base. Turning her head, she smiled as she saw the contents of a familliar med bay. _"Scooter-cat safe now?"_

_"Yes. You're safe. I wouldn't advise attempting to sit up, though."_

Alleycat lifted the blanket covering her and looked at herself. She was covered in bandages, but she was clean-for the first time since she could remember, there wasn't a speck of dirt on her skin, but there wasn't anything more than bandages on her skin either. Suddenly, an alarming thought hit her as she recalled the small radio from the warehouse.

_"Where Wavelength?"_ She demanded.

_"The Arcee triplets are looking after him."_

At that moment, the doors opened and Ratchet's holoform walked in with Will. He seemed slightly surprised to see her looking back at him. "Awake already? I thought the painkillers would keep you under for a few more hours."

"Scooter-cat does not like sleeping from pain." She informed him firmly. He walked over to her, obviously preparing to run a scan, but she reached out and caught his hand, stopping him. "Scooter-cat is fine."

Ratchet studdied her for a moment with an unreadable expression. "So, your name is Scooter-cat?"

"No. Scooter-cat is Alleycat, not Scooter-cat. Only Scooter-cat calls Scooter-cat Alleycat."

Ratchet's face went blank for a moment, Will looked slightly confused. "You refer to yourself in third person?"

"Scooter-cat is only one person."

_"He means that you talk about yourself as a seperate person."_

"Scooter-cat has always spoken this way. It is normal for Scooter-cat." She met Will's eyes. "Scooter-cat thanks Ironhide and Soldier for helping, but Scooter-cat wants to sleep now. Ratchet can look at Scooter-cat while Scooter-cat sleep and tell Optimus when Scooter-cat wake up again."

Both of them noticably stiffened. "How-?" Will began, eyes narrowing.

"Scooter-cat does not know how Scooter-cat knows. Knowing names is threat to Soldier and the others, but Scooter-cat will stay here without force. Scooter-cat is safe here." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the pillow. The world drifted back into darkness, and she faintly heard Ratchet asking a question, but by that time, she was already asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I merely borrow the characters to weave my own tales and do not make any profit from this.

Sorry for the long wait. I did try to make the chapter longer. Hopefully I suceeded . . .

* * *

Alleycat studdied the assemble for a moment in silence, propped up against a pile of pillows. All of the Autobots and their human companions had crowded into the med bay at her request. Wavelength was curled up next to her, chirping happily as he played with the sleeve of the loose gown she was wearing.

"Scooter-cat will answer questions now." She said at last, looking at Optimus. "Soldiers have many questions."

"Indeed." Optimus said calmly, watching her with an unreadable look in his optics. "How did you know of us?"

"Scooter-cat knows not. Scooter-cat is only knowing of names, faces, and lives, not of how Scooter-cat is knowing these things."

"What do you mean by "lives?" Ratchet demanded.

She didn't look at him-instead, she looked at Bumblebee and Sam. "Creators of Sam, Ron and Judy Witwicky, bought rose designated "American Salute" to celebrate sparkling's birth. Rose is in backyard on left side of shed. Bumblebee recharged in Tygar Pax every cycle until becoming guardian of Sam." He looked toward another face. "Ironhide is scared of breaking Will's sparkling, but wishes to have one of his own with Chromia. Will asked Sarah to bond the day before Will left to fight over sea. Will got on one knee to give diamond ring of promise amongst many trees during long hike. Ratchet's creators wanted Ratchet to be politician on Cybertron. Optimus still grieves for lost brother. Simmons does not hate Autobots. Secretary of Defending America, Keller, was afraid Keller would never see sparklings again during first attack on Planet Dirt. Skids and Mudflap never knew creators and were sparked into war. Scooter-cat knows this and more. Scooter-cat knows lives."

Everyone wore expressions of stunned disbelief.

"Scooter-cat does not lie. Soldiers all know Scooter-cat tell truth." She added after a long silence.

"So . . ." Sideswipe hesitated, slightly sceptical. "What you're saying is, you know everything about-?"

"Sideswipe has brother, yes?"

"Yeah. Sunstreaker." He had a sort of wary hope on his face.

_/". . . To any surviving Autobots taking refuge amongst the stars . . . We are here. We are waiting."_

_He turned towards his companions abruptly. "Well?" He demanded with a sneer. "Are you coming or what?"_

_"Lead the way."/_

_/"Prowl, we found Optimus. We're enroute to his location now-these are the coordinates he gave."_

_"Understood."/  
_

"Two months."

"What?"

"The Ark will reach orbit of Planet Dirt in two months. Now, questions will continue, yes?"

* * *

"Alright," Will said at last, once the interrogation had finished. "To sum this up, Alleycat knows everything about us, she has no memories other than ours that she can remember, and she was somehow able to create a sparkling, but there are no traces of Allspark radiation coming from her, and apparently, the Ark is on its way to Earth, ETA two months. Now what?"

"Now Scooter-cat sleep more." She said calmly, settling deeper into her pillows. "Scooter-cat trust soldiers."

"Man, this is going to be a whole lot of paperwork." Epps muttered, shaking his head.

She eyed him with her piercingly blue eyes. "Scooter-cat does not envy Epps work of paper. Paper is most annoying." With that declaration, she closed her eyes, instantly falling asleep.

"You know something?" Sam said into the silence that had fallen, randomly speaking a thought. "She sleeps a lot."

* * *

_"Alley-cat,"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Listen closely. The outcome of the war depends on this."_

_"Scooter-cat listens."_

_"To save them you must . . ."_

* * *

_**Author's Musings:**_

**_So the Ark is en route to Earth, but how is the Government going to handle Alleycat's knowledge?_**

_**And who is the mysterious "Them" the voice is talking about? Anyone want to guess? I'll give you a hint-it might not be who you're thinking of.**  
_


End file.
